King's Kitchen Garden

Documenting the stunning history of Versailles' centuries-old fruit and vegetable garden

The King's kitchen garden was created by La Quintinie in 1678 on a plot of land near the Château de Versailles to provide fruit and vegetables for Louis XIV. The garden covers nine hectares and is composed of a sequence of smaller plots, garden chambers whose walls and terraces control exposure to the sun and create microclimates to diversify production. La Quintinie was able to cultivate and harvest figs, melons, asparagus, peaches, plums, pears and more, sometimes even out of season. Today the garden contains roughly 450 varieties of fruit and 400 varieties of vegetable, and has conserved its triple function as a place of cultivation, experimentation with new techniques and training in gardening. It welcomes students from the national school of gardening, who are allotted plots for their own practical endeavors, as well as courses in gardening theory and practice. This volume documents this extraordinary endeavor.